X Goes Live-Only for Premium Subscribers
X plans to make live streaming exclusive to Premium subscribers in the coming weeks. This decision implies that users will have to subscribe to the premium version to access the features of live streaming, which will drastically change the face of the platform.
Effects on Content and the End-User
The decision to limit live streaming to only Premium users will definitely decrease the amount of content filmed on the ground and shared on X Live-streaming, which has been instrumental in providing updates on the ground, especially during breaking news. By charging for it, X might lose this real-time, wide-ranging coverage aspect, which has been one of the platform’s selling points.
Solving the problem of copyright and piracy issues
According to X, the two major causes of this change are copyright and piracy violations. Most users have been using the live-streaming option to broadcast prohibited content. Due to this, X plans to make live-streaming a premium feature so as to reduce the quality of content that is produced and shared on the platform. This step is to try to eliminate or reduce cases of unauthorised streaming and thus create a more controlled environment for content.
Contradictions to Citizen Journalism
This change seems to be in contrast with Elon Musk’s concept of ‘citizen journalism, where people from the real world offer their real take on the news. Restricting live-streaming to the subscribers only may slow down the first-hand reporting, which made X so useful for covering events as they unfold. This change may lead to a decline in the platform’s function in conveying real-time information.
Driving Subscriptions
Another reason would be to boost the circulation of X Premium through subscriptions. However, as it can be seen, X Premium has not been able to attract many users even with these measures. In his initial strategy for X after acquiring it in 2022, Musk focused on decreasing the company’s dependence on ad revenue by increasing subscription revenues. Musk imagined that user payments would fund X to be independent and free of speech, as per his ethos, from advertisers.
Financial Struggles
The subscription service was meant to be a major source of revenue for X, according to Elon Musk’s plan of achieving $2. 5 billion annually. Yet, X Premium’s usage is limited to less than one percent of the engaged users, which means that fewer than two million users are subscribed to the paid service. It has a monthly average fee of $8, thus collecting about $192 million every year, which is hugely below the expected $2. 5 billion.
Unrealized Revenue Projections
The business plan for X Musk first envisioned annual revenues of $26.4 billion by 2028, and $10 billion of them will be through subscription services. In fact, for X, it produced about $2. 5 billion in 2023, and according to the current outlook, the situation is unlikely to improve in 2021. These financial issues are putting strain on the company internally, especially between Musk and the recently appointed CEO Linda Yaccarino, where revenues continue to stagnate and costs’ pressure continues to rise.
That said, it’s interesting to note that even though X Premium has not been the most successful of products, the platform has increasingly been moving more of its features behind the paywall. This plan is to increase subscriptions and is dangerous because it may decrease user satisfaction and reduce content variety. This situation is evidenced by the continued attempts to lure subscribers with features such as the Grok AI chatbot, which is available only in the Premium version.
A desperate move?
In sum, it seems more and more that X locked live-streaming and other features into a paywall because it has run out of other options. Although it is a valid concern to address rights and copyrights, the overall approach is entirely counterintuitive. Limiting available content may worsen the perceived utility and appeal of the platform.
